


Milestones

by BlackandBlueMagpie



Series: Complications [3]
Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Schönberg/Boublil, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Baby Fic, M/M, Mention of Surgery, This is pretty much pure fluff, but other than that..., trans!Enjolras
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-11 00:33:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7016554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackandBlueMagpie/pseuds/BlackandBlueMagpie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Having a baby entails lots of ups, and downs, but mostly ups, each chronicled in a slowly expanding baby book. A series of snap shots of the best bits of year one (and a bit)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Milestones

“Enjolras!” Grantaire calls as he unlocks the door. Work hadn’t been part of the plan for the day, rather he’d been hoping to take advantage of the sun and taken a picnic and gone for a wander. Alas, someone had called in sick, so by 10 o’clock he was in a massive hurry to actually get dressed after a long night and a lazy morning and get to the café before 10.30. So, now finally getting home at six, he honestly just wants to collapse on the sofa, possibly with cuddles included.   
“In the kitchen, how’s paella for dinner?” Grantaire toes off his shoes, dumping his bag to the side with a promise that he’ll deal with it later, and heads into the kitchen, taking a short detour to kiss Alexis on the forehead and getting a gummy smile in return.  
“That’s adventurous, how’re you holding up with actual cooking?” He asks with a smile, wrapping his arms around Enjolras’s waist. Enjolras huffs.   
“I thought you might fancy something a bit different but if you’re just going to complain…”  
“No, no complaining.” Grantaire kisses his cheek gently. “Just surprised.”   
“It’s not too complicated, so I’ve not given you food poisoning, don’t worry.” Enjolras squeezes Grantaire’s hands with his free hand as they rest on his stomach. “Oh, guess what happened today?”   
“Other than this new enthusiasm for cooking? What?”  
“Alexis laughed.” Enjolras smiles, Grantaire’s heart sinks a little.  
“She did?” Enjolras pauses, then places his spoon down to face him.   
“Oh don’t look so sad, I hate that…” He says as he cups Grantaire’s cheek.   
“I’m just annoyed, I mean I should have been here, if not for bloody work.”   
“She’ll laugh again.” Grantaire sighs.   
“I know… How did you do it?” Enjolras looks down a little, almost embarrassed, and it makes Grantaire smile a little. “Go on, how?”   
“A variety of utterly ridiculous faces.”   
“That’s not that bad!”  
“No, but can you imagine what everyone from work would say? It’d kinda ruin my image.” Enjolras chuckles. “Because, they were seriously ridiculous.”   
“You think she’d do it again?”   
“Okay, but you’re doing the faces because I think I strained my cheeks.” Grantaire rolls his eyes.   
“Excuses, excuses. It’s probably a special laugh just for daddy knowing my luck.” He crouches in front of her rocking seat with a grin. “Hey darling, are you going to laugh for papa? Yeah?” He tickles her tummy and gets a wiggle.   
“Nah, it has to be the ugliest expression you can manage.” Enjolras tells him over his shoulder.   
“Here I was hoping…” Grantaire mutters teasingly before setting to work.

~~~

“Grantaire.” Enjolras hisses, and Grantaire groans blearily. “Grantaire!”   
“What..?” Grantaire still doesn’t open his eyes, not quite yet because it’s still dark and he’s pretty sure he only just fell asleep. “What time even is it..?”  
“4am.” Enjolras says quietly, and this time Grantaire does open his eyes, frowning because he knows something isn’t quite right but he’s still too asleep to actually process anything yet. Through the curtains he can just about see the streetlamps outside, and it allows him to see Enjolras’s face in the half light. He looks slightly concerned.  
“It’s 4 already?”   
“And Alexis hasn’t woken up for her feed yet.”   
“Oh… That’s… Isn’t that supposed to be a good thing?” He yawns, Alexis is usually as regular as clockwork, but thankfully, for his sleep schedule at least, she’s beginning to go from every two hours to every four and so forth. Enjolras, he knows, still drifts awake every two hours or so expecting a grumble or a cry. They used a baby monitor over night for less than a week before it made both of them paranoid and they relegated it to daytime duty. Grantaire rolls over a little to face Enjolras, who bites the edge of his lip.   
“It is but… Well she’s never done it before without a grumble even if she doesn’t need feeding.”  
“There’s a first time for everything.” Grantaire tries, but Enjolras just looks as worried as ever.   
“That’s not the point! What if… Something’s wrong.” Oh… Grantaire’s brain catches up, and he exhales quietly. He reaches out to gently stroke Enjolras’s cheek, and his boyfriend leans into the touch.   
“She’ll be fine, but do you want to check?” Enjolras wavers, like he doesn’t really want to admit that he’s really concerned, but can’t not get up to check either.   
“Mhmm…” Grantaire smiles, sliding his hand down to take Enjolras’s and pull him into a sitting position. Then he plants a short kiss on his lips, because he can do that now, and that fact still amazes him, before he slides out of bed.   
Moving stealthily has become a performance art, a combination of knowing where every creak originates, what Alexis will react to, and how quickly or slowly to move. It’s made all the more difficult when there’s two of you, and you left the door to the lounge mostly closed meaning that the hallway is all but pitch black still despite the lights outside providing a little light in the bedroom. The noise machine Combeferre bought them is still softly playing, a deep wave type sound that seems to sooth her at her most cranky, and a projection of stars across the ceiling. He takes a moment to curse the fact that they decided to put the crib in the corner of the room, so he can’t check from the doorway, but Enjolras solves the problem by creeping over far more quickly than Grantaire ever could, and certainly not that quietly, to lean over the crib, tucking his hair behind his ear.   
Grantaire catches up to find him with the fond smile he recognises from every time Enjolras has caught her like this. She’s sprawled on her back, arms up to her ears, legs tucked slightly under in that way only babies can. She always pouts a little, frowning at whatever dream she’s having. She yawns as they watch and Grantaire reaches across to lay a hand on Enjolras’s shoulder.   
“See, she’s perfect.” He murmurs.   
“I know…” Enjolras sighs quietly. “It’s just so weird not being interrupted while I’m sleeping… Is this what normal feels like?” He jokes.   
“What’s normal?” Grantaire smiles, kissing him on the cheek. “Come on, let’s make the most of it and ‘sleep in’.” Enjolras hides a laugh, backing out as quietly as possible.   
“Most people, waking up this early would do something quite different to make the most of it.”   
“Yes, but we’re parents. We don’t do such exciting things as that. Besides, she’s bound to wake up then, just sods law.” Enjolras yawns, flopping into bed and looking anything but up to his previous joke. Grantaire drapes an arm over him, planting a kiss on his forehead.   
“Mmm… Good morning..?” Enjolras smiles.   
“Well I’d say so, it’s a pretty big milestone.”   
“Mhmm… See how long it lasts.”

~~~ 

“Bahorel!” Grantaire sounds what might be called hysterically delighted that he picked up. Which is downright unfair considering it’s a week night, pitch black outside his curtains and for a moment he thanks some god that Feuilly’s hearing aid is out because oh boy they would not be happy right now.   
“Eh..?” He manages, not really fit, or willing, to give a hello.”   
“Bahorel I need your help.”   
“Why.” He states, it’s more a why me than a what for but Grantaire barrels on.   
“What was that thing that your sister used for teething?!”  
“Huh?” He pushes himself up a little in the hopes in might clear his head or… Something. It does nothing except meaning he has to leave the warmth of his duvet for a flat currently unheated due to the fact that it’s… 3am. A fact he repeats to the man on the phone.   
“I know, I know and I’m so sorry but oh god Alexis is teething and you have no idea how bad this is. Three nights, three night she’s been up all night, can’t sleep, grumpy, too hot. And it affects everything… Everything. I mean how can teeth affect-“  
“You’re rambling and I really don’t want to know.” Bahorel rubs his eyes.   
“Please Bahorel, I might cry.”  
“Brandy.” He says, as only a semi-serious suggestion as he racks his brains for anything that will be useful and get Grantaire off the damn phone. “For either of you.”  
“Oh come on, be serious.”   
“I was…”  
“No your sister mentioned something a while ago.” Grantaire groans and he can hear some murmuring in the background that he assumes is Enjolras and the faint grumbling of Alexis. He sighs, pushing his hair off his face.   
“I don’t know… I think they put the chew thing in the fridge? I can ask her to text you tomorrow but right now that’s the best I got.”   
“It’ll do!” Grantaire sounds like he’s grinning, and there’s mumbled voices as he passes on the information.  
“Can I please go now..?” He asks awkwardly, tempted to just hang up, but unwilling to deal with any consequences at the meeting when he has to face his sleep deprived friends. Grantaire gives a small ‘oh’ of shock that says him leaving would have likely gone unnoticed.  
“Of course, I’m sorry it’s just… Three days of no sleep my brain is…”  
“I’m going.” Bahorel tells him flatly.   
“Yes! Right. Thank you so much.”  
“Good luck with that.” He says as he hangs up, flopping back into the bed with a groan. He’s cold, and half awake, but in a headachy way from being pried from his dream. He allows himself a small comfort in the fact that he’s not the only one awake, his tiredness making him more spiteful than his day time self would allow before starfishing, face buried in his pillow, in the hope of getting some sleep in the next four hours. 

~~~

“Would you just relax?” Grantaire smiles, watching as Enjolras debates going for his phone again. “We’ve barely sat down.”   
“I know… I am. It’s just weird.” He confesses, twiddling his thumbs atop his napkin.   
“Come on.” Grantaire reassures him, reaching to still his hands a little. “Ferre’s your best friend, you must be able to trust her with Alexis.”  
“I do.”  
“Then relax, enjoy our first date.” Enjolras frowns at this, looking up at him.   
“It’s not…” Grantaire raises an eyebrow in amusement. “Is it?”  
“Officially…” Sure they’ve been dating for over five months now, and living together for far longer but babies don’t make for decent alone time, even sleeping together is always a regimented and planned affair at the moment, around meal times and nap time and actually feeling energetic enough to do anything but lounge on the sofa.   
“But we’ve been dating for-“ Enjolras begins, then stops. “Oh… Where has all that gone?”  
“Down the whirlpool vortex of time I suspect.” Grantaire chuckles. “She’ll be fine.”   
“I know.” Enjolras relaxes a little, leaning back in his chair. “I mean she’s mostly sleeping through now and she hasn’t been colicky in ages… And she loves ‘Ferre.”   
“Exactly.”   
“Alright, phone’s away. I’m relaxed.” He says decisively.   
“Good.” Grantaire kisses his fingers. “You want some wine?”   
“Why not.” Enjolras nods after a moment’s consideration. “I don’t have to feed her tonight so we might as well. I don’t think I’ve had a drink in nearly a year.” He smiles wryly. “It’s going to go straight to my head.”   
“We’ll get some food in you, it’ll be fine.”   
“You know… You haven’t drunk anything in a while either.”  
“Well I…” Grantaire frowns. “I haven’t really had a need to. Or the time, let’s be honest.” Enjolras squeezes his fingers, without commenting further.  
“White wine?” 

~~~

“When did the book say to go for it, solid foods wise?” Grantaire asks Enjolras, because the pair of them have been fretting over this for the last few weeks. Is it the right time, is it too early, should they have already started? They’ve asked all the people around them with babies when they started, but the answer has pretty much been a unanimous ‘when you’re ready.’ Which is maddeningly unhelpful, but Grantaire supposes every baby is different.   
“Any when from four to six months. And she’s nearly six… And she can sit up properly and everything…”  
“You wanna try?” Grantaire shrugs. “We could make something up quickly. Joly got us that recipe book.”  
“I suppose we may as well…” Enjolras chews on his lip. Grantaire scrabbles for the book, because he’s too lazy to get up himself, and ends up headfirst over the arm of the chair. “Do you need a hand or..?” Enjolras asks.  
“I’m fine.” He wheezes, pulling himself back up. “What delights do we have?” Enjolras peers over his shoulder as he flicks through, counting out a few that they don’t have the ingredients, all one or two, for. “Sweet potato?”   
“Sounds simple enough.” Enjolras agrees.  
“I can go make it now so it’s ready for when she wakes up.” Grantaire offers and gets a smile.   
“Thanks, I’m going to do some tip reading…” Enjolras holds up the baby book, then leans across to give him a quick kiss. The recipe is the simplest thing Grantaire’s probably ever made, bar beans on toast. He ends up with enough to feed at least an adult by the time he’s pureed and thinned it out with some formula, so he sets it aside in case this is a success.   
It’s about half an hour later, when there’s a grumbling over the baby monitor, that Enjolras goes to get her up.   
“Papa’s got a surprise.” He tells Alexis as they reach the kitchen, and she looks confused by the presence of the high chair for meal time, grumbling a little as Enjolras slides her in. “It’s a yummy surprise.” She makes grabby hands at him as he pulls away. “You can have milk in a moment, yeah?”  
“You want me to try this?”  
“Yeah, I think you’d be best…”  
“You mean you don’t want to get covered?” Grantaire teases, settling in the chair. “What’s this?” What proceeds is something of a pantomime of him trying the food and pretending it is the most delicious thing he has ever tasted, her grabbing the spoon to squish the food around, coating herself in orange puree, before eventually opening her mouth just enough for him to give her a little. It takes a few minutes of hating it, liking it, not liking it and eventually liking it enough to let him give her a third spoonful before she decides for a final time that she’s not happy with this and holds her arms out for Enjolras, face screwed up in the beginnings of a cry.   
“Oh I know… Was that not nice?”  
“You’re trying to get her onside.” Grantaire raises an eyebrow, half covered in the rest of the bowl. Enjolras wipes her hands over before lifting her out of the chair, bottle in hand.   
“Well… We’ll try again tomorrow?”   
“You’re too soft.”

~~~

“Do you think she’ll ever crawl?” Enjolras asks, watching Alexis shuffle around his Auntie’s living room to the Christmas tree, staunchly staying up until the fifth, so she can bat at the tinsel that’s dripping slowly off a branch. One of the first things they did when they arrived, Alexis having become much more active in the run up to Christmas, was remove anything even vaguely breakable or eatable from reaching distance.   
“I don’t know.” Grantaire ponders, eating what may be the beginning of his second box of chocolates, but it’s the tail end of Christmas so he thinks it’s pertinent. “Maybe she won’t.”  
“Trust our baby to be the one who does things weirdly.” Enjolras smiles. “She’s going to wear out the bum on all her Babygro’s.”   
“It’s that or the knees.” Grantaire shrugs, holding out the box.  
“Thank you.” He says as he takes a toffee. “Well, I suppose it’s efficient.” He adds, as she zips around to grab her reindeer toy –a gift from Courfeyrac that did play music until Grantaire surgically removed the batteries, she’s now eternally disappointed when she squeezes it and nothing happens. She pouts again, bashing it on the floor, then looking up at them with an indignant expression and a squawk. “No noise? Oh no…” Enjolras shakes his head. “Bring it over.” He beckons. Alexis considers it with a twist of her lips, then pushes herself forward and half crawls toward him. “Hey! You’re doing it!” Enjolras grins.   
“Well, would you look at that...” Grantaire smiles, bemused by the situation.   
“Auntie Mel!” Enjolras calls. “She’s actually crawling!”   
“Some of us are still sleeping!” Nadine shouts downstairs. Grantaire chuckles, Nadine had spent the night out at a friends for new year, staggering in at some stupid time in the morning and still not being up even at nearly 2pm. He shouts this fact back to her. “Shut. Up!” Enjolras shoots him a look, but it doesn’t actually succeed in looking even slightly like a warning.   
“Hold it, hold it!” Mel comes thumping in from the kitchen, just as Alexis sits back down and holds her arms up to Enjolras. “Really?!” Enjolras chuckles as he picks her up.  
“Sorry Mel, she did do it though.”  
“Put her down, make her do it again.” Mel tells him, leaning on the doorframe. Enjolras rolls his eyes but places her down.   
“Go to papa.” He tells her, as Grantaire holds out his hands. She considers it, then butt-shuffles toward him. Grantaire bursts out laughing, scooping her up.   
“Well done!”   
“Well, crawling lasted a long time…” Enjolras chuckles as Mel groans, knocking her forehead on the door frame. 

~~~

There’s a knock in the door just after lunch, Grantaire’s just finishing feeding Alexis the last of a yoghurt. It’s mostly on her, because she’s decided the new things is needing to have a spoon while she’s being fed, so now it’s a battle getting most of the food in her rather than splashed across the kitchen.   
“I’ll grab it.” Enjolras chuckles, being mostly yoghurt free, pushing himself up. He can hear the mumbling of voices in the corridor as he tries to mop up Alexis’s face. She squirms away from him, giggling all the while. “Grantaire, Bahorel and Feuilly are here! And they brought Rocky.”   
“Huh… You wanna go say hi to Uncle Bahorel and Untie Feuilly? And… The cat?” She claps, chuckling, so he scoops her onto his hip. Rocky has becomes a regular feature of visits from Bahorel, now he’s more confident on the lead and less likely to just lie there waiting for the ordeal to end. He’s quite the attention seeker when he’s out and about, attracting as many coos as he does stares. Alexis adores him, and, luckily, the cat is eternally patient with her 'petting'. “Come on then.” The other three are already getting settled in the lounge when he walks in. Alexis wriggles in his arms, holding out her own hands toward the group.   
“Rock-ey!” She grins.   
There’s a silence as everyone takes in what just happened, and she continues to make grabby hands at said cat.   
“Did she just…” Enjolras asks in amazement.   
“Alexis… That’s amazing. Yes, Rocky!” Grantaire grins, kissing her forehead. Feuilly signs to Bahorel, who fully explains what just happened, a massive goofy grin on his face. “You want to play with Rocky?”   
“We need a picture first.” Bahorel protests. Enjolras agrees, his surprise giving way to a wide grin as he plants a kiss on the top of Alexis’s head. And so, they all end up squished into the camera frame, including Rocky who looks most confused as he’s scooped up into Bahorel’s arms. Alexis is oblivious to how big-a-moment it is for the rest of them as they grin uncontrollably, so she’s reaching for Rocky in the photo. But that seems appropriate, considering he’s the catalyst. Bahorel wraps them all in a big hug, until Feuilly slaps at his arm and complains they can’t breathe, but they’re laughing anyway.   
“Weeks of trying to get her to say Papa or Dada and the cat wins out.” Grantaire wipes at his eyes, still laughing.   
“What did you come by for anyway, I’ve forgotten.” Enjolras asks, once the laughter and smiles have subsided as much as they probably will. Bahorel pauses.  
“So have I… Feuilly?” They shrug.   
'Obviously nothing important.'

~~~

“Morning sleepy head.” Enjolras grins, rubbing Alexis’s tummy. She giggles happily, wriggling. “How have you nearly pulled off your bottoms again?” He chuckles, leaning down to pick her up and then pull up the offending cat print pyjama bottoms – a set Joly had found one day and just couldn’t resist buying. “Do you know what day it is? No?” She shakes her head with a grin. “It’s your birthday!”   
“Do you think she understands the concept of a birthday?” Grantaire wonders, leaning on the doorway, camera in hand.   
“Are you going to film the entire day?”   
“Yes?”   
“Oh, good.” Enjolras chuckles. “You could have waited until I was out of my pyjamas.” He shoots Grantaire a wry smile, kissing Alexis on her temple. She giggles. “You’re one.”  
“On-“  
“Yes, well done. You’ve been here for one whole year.” Enjolras grins. “Which is… Completely improbable to me…” He settles her in her highchair. “I’ll make breakfast then, if you’re surgically attached to the camera?” He looks amused rather than annoyed, moving to begin making porridge for Alexis and turn on the hob for pancakes.   
“Oh you love it really.” Grantaire grins, placing the camera out of Alexis’s reach and moving to kiss Enjolras firmly. “Besides, I am helping…”  
“With?”   
“Cutting the fruit I was thinking.”   
“Go on then.” Enjolras nudges him. Grantaire moves to grab some strawberries and apple from the fridge, along with the jam Alexis has decided she must have in her porridge. Breakfast is a quiet affair, as quiet as it can be anyway, Alexis making her way through the chopped fruit until her porridge is ready and then does her usual getting it all over the highchair and herself. Enjolras offers her morsels of his pancakes, which she happily accepts, until she gets a piece of Grantaire’s with lemon on and pulls a disgusted face.   
“What are we planning, until later on anyway?” Grantaire asks, wiping sticky juice from her chin. Enjolras considers, sipping his coffee.  
“How about the farm, that should take up most of the middle of the day, then Mel and Nadine should get here at six, our friends said any when from half five.” Grantaire nods, holding out a cup to Alexis to sip on.   
“That sounds lovely actually, nice and relaxed.”   
“I can’t believe it’s been a year already… Actually,” He glances at the clock on the wall. “In 6 minutes it’ll be exactly a year.”  
“It has gone quickly.” Grantaire agrees.   
“I’m glad, that we did it all. Because we got you.” He pinches Alexis’s cheek. “And I wouldn’t trade that for anything.” 

~~~

“How’re you feeling?” Grantaire asks, handing Enjolras a cup of tea. Enjolras glances up from his laptop, he’s taken a few extra days off going into the office after his operation but nothing will keep him away from his work. He takes off his glasses and pulls a face.   
“Not so bad. Still sore, better now the drain’s out.” He wrinkles his nose. “Looking forward to being… Normal again. And showering, especially showering.” Grantaire chuckles quietly.  
“You’re happy though, with the result?”   
“Yeah, well from what I can see.” Enjolras smiles, sipping his tea. Behind him Alexis shuffles in, holding up her arms to him.   
“Up! Up!” Enjolras bite his lip.   
“I can’t honey… Not at the moment.”   
“Dada!” She protests and Enjolras looks physically pained, and not just because of the stitches in his chest. He looks up to Grantaire, then back down to her, pressing his lips together.   
“I know, but I have… An ouchy, here…” He places a hand to his chest. She pouts, and looks absolutely identical to Enjolras for a moment, before scooting off. “Oh I hate this Grantaire… I know in the long run but she looks so upset and I can’t properly explain why things are different.”   
“I know, I know…” Grantaire kisses his hair, rubbing his arm gently. Enjolras leans into his side with a sigh, watching as Alexis pulls herself up on the sofa to reach for something half buried under a cushion.  
“I just wish it was easier than this.”   
“You’ll be back lifting her again soon, you know that.”   
“I know-“ Enjolras pauses, as Alexis turns to them, looks slightly determined with toy in hand and takes two very deliberate steps in their direction before over balancing and landing on her bum again, then shuffles the rest of the way. “She walked…”   
“Did you just walk Alexis?” Grantaire grins. She’s taken steps before, but always leaning on things or supported by them, much preferring to shuffle around, and being rather terrifyingly efficient. She holds up the toy, the Lion Cosette made before she was born, though slightly more raggedy after a year of being chewed.   
“For ouchy!” She tells them emphatically, and Enjolras’s grin widens.   
“Thank you!” He bends as far as he can to take it from her, then glances to Grantaire expectantly.   
“Oh!” Grantaire bends to lift her up too, kissing the top of her head before sitting her on Enjolras’s lap. “Better?”  
“Thanks.” Enjolras squeezes his hand. Alexis, content with her perch, is already distracted by Enjolras’s glasses, making a move toward chewing them. “Oh, oh. No no.” Enjolras laughs. “Here, you want your Lion back?”

**Author's Note:**

> I may have just wanted to write baby fic, because these two are adorable parents and I had a need okay?   
> (First Christmas will come actually at Christmas I hope)   
> Next week, I'm hoping, is a short fic focussed on Marius and Cosette's wedding and the events surrounding :D


End file.
